Testimonials

“I hired Brian as the writer on a major website overhaul for the independent school where I serve as the Director of Communications. He crafted a wide range of copy for us, successfully balancing key themes with concrete details — and maintaining the consistent voice we sought for our new site. His own experience in independent school communications made him a deeply knowledgeable resource, and a source of helpful tactical advice as well. A man of many talents, he has produced high quality video footage for us as well.”

Marilyn RuppartChair of Lower School and Interim Head of School at the Steiner School

“There was little in the way of professional branding and strategic marketing when Brian came on board. He immediately set about visiting classrooms, developing relationships with colleagues and learning the culture of the school. At the same time, he was overflowing with ideas as to how to get our name and who we were before NY city parents, as well as the general public. I was always impressed with the variety of pots he was simultaneously stirring to keep our marketing momentum going. Brian significantly stepped up our social media presence, the content of our website, and the variety of marketing initiatives. He did it all with indefatigable energy and a positive, can-do attitude. He put in extremely long hours and time on the weekends, as well. He was dedicated to the school, and a very supportive and a dependable team player. He brings a range of expertise, willingness to work hard, and a graciousness to his work that would benefit any organization.”

Matthew D. PayneDirector of Communications at City and Country School

“For me, the best part about Brian, and the reason I continue to work with him, is that he truly understands what being a Director of Communications entails. He has a strong grasp on the latest trends–and an equally strong grasp on how possible it will be for your office to execute strategy based on those trends. This, along with his warm and welcoming demeanor, has helped me to keep my sanity while maximizing the work I do day-to-day.”

RoseMarie AlfieriDirector of Communications at Saint David’s School

“We hired Brian as our freelance videographer to cover Saint David’s School performances and create marketing videos. Brian has been producing quality videos that capture and reflect the culture and spirit of our school and the joy of these performances. He employs his strategic expertise and is a skilled interviewer adept at eliciting the most important message to be communicated. A consummate professional, Brian is a strategic thinker and creative, enthusiastic, easy to work with, on time, available, and flexible, and his turn-around time in delivering the final product is always fast, while maintaining quality. I strongly recommend him for video/communications projects.”

Nigel TaplinFormer Head of Tesseract School

“Brian Kaplan is a talented, engaged and dedicated communications and marketing professional. He made a significant impact on the success of the Tesseract School. With over thirty years experience in independent schools, I recognize the effective leadership that Brian provided our school. I can confidently say that Brian made a substantial and meaningful impression with Tesseract’s administration and in every area where he was involved. Brian immediately became a tireless proponent for the school learning about the community, curricula and forces that guide our student-centered mission. He was instantly a visible presence in the school – participating in events and getting to know our students and faculty, as well as the parents. He took his vast experience, impeccable work ethic, and unrelenting enthusiasm to learn about Tesseract – from our two-year olds through our senior class – to promote our innovative programs by using the media and word-of-mouth to advertising and social media. Among the areas where Brian took ownership were redesigning the school’s website into a robust platform; catching the essence of our students through videos and pictures displaying engaged, focused and happy children; introducing a new e-mail marketing program and standardizing our branding to ensure consistency throughout the school and community.”

Dr. Kenneth WryeFormer Interim Head of Claremont Preparatory School

Brian was an important resource as the school navigated a number of important issues. He was a presence and a resource to the administration, faculty, staff, parents, students and the community. He designed an art show at a professional NYC gallery that involved our youngest students through fourth grade. Brian arranged for the art to hang in the gallery for one week, prior to our Spring Gala fundraiser. The artwork served as an awareness campaign, which resulted in five media placements and ultimately the bidding on these pieces tripled from the proceeding year’s auction – largely based on the advanced marketing efforts. When the school opened its new middle and high school campus, Brian arranged for a proclamation from the Manhattan Borough President, which was read by New York Councilman Keith Wright. He also was able to close the street for the opening ceremony, which was no small matter in New York City. Brian oversaw the website redesign and launched all of the school’s social media channels, including Facebook, YouTube, Flickr, Twitter and a blog. He handled a large portion of the crisis communications, working with school leadership, governance and the school psychologist when two middle school girls died in an airplane crash in June 2011. Brian handled matters with poise, dignity, and professionalism. He is a hard worker and a very positive and competent representative of the school. I can highly recommend him and would be happy to work with him again.”

Mathilde S.School Parent; Vice President, Professional Services

“Brian worked tirelessly to promote and communicate about our school activities and overall achievements. I enjoyed having him on our community service team as he went above and beyond to roll up his sleeves and volunteer along with doing his publicity magic!”

Keith L.School Parent; Venture Development Executive

“Brian is a tireless advocate in his efforts to communicate a mission. He has an unfailing positive drive to his work style, and I can think of precious few people who better project for an organization.”

Uta K.Board of Trustees, School Parent, and Vice President of User Experience Design

“While serving on the school Board handling Marketing and Communications, I worked in direct interaction with Brian in his role of Director of Communications for our school. I know Brian as a very dedicated, hard-working, enthusiastic, professional and kind person, who was always open to explore possible solutions to any concerns or questions the Board might have had in regards to communications. It was a pleasure working with him.”

Kurt F.School Parent; CEO of a strategic branding company

“Brian is an energetic and creative professional. As a parent serving on fund raising and communications committees, I had the good fortune to work with Brian. I was impressed by his instinctive understanding of branding and his expertise at knowing how to get it done. He respects a deadline and a communications objective. You can be sure that Brian will deliver precisely what is needed.”